What Americans Think About Science

Americans overwhelmingly appreciate scientists and the work they do to improve society, a new study from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found. But more than 80 percent of American scientists surveyed say that the public’s lack of scientific knowledge is a major problem, and only about half of scientists rate American scientific achievements as among the best in the world. The study comprises three surveys conducted by phone and online with 2,533 American scientists and about 3,000 citizens in April-June, 2009. The findings emphasize the pressing need for U.S. institutions of higher education to produce greater numbers of liberally educated scientists and engineers, as well as nonscientist graduates with a broad education that includes courses in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.) AAC&U’s new collaboration with Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) will focus on improving science education for all college students, regardless of major or program.

FINDINGS

The Public’s Views of Science

• American citizens overwhelmingly (84 percent) indicate that they have a “mostly positive” opinion of scientists and their contributions to society. Seventy percent of respondents said scientists contribute “a lot” to society, behind only members of the military and teachers.
• Citizens are less confident about the United States’ scientific prowess as compared to the rest of the world’s. Only 17 percent of Americans cite American scientific achievement as “among the best in the world,” while 47 percent say American scientific achievement is “above average.”
• Americans’ view of science’s place among the nation’s greatest achievements of the last fifty years has dropped since May 1999. Today, only 27 percent of Americans say science is America’s “greatest achievement,” compared to 47 percent a decade ago. The most common achievement cited in the current survey was “Nothing/Don’t know” at 33 percent.

Scientists’ Views of Science

• Eighty-five percent of scientists surveyed indicate that American’s lack of scientific knowledge is a serious problem for science, and nearly half of scientists (49 percent) indicate that Americans have unrealistic expectations about the speed of scientific achievement.
• Almost 90 percent of scientists surveyed say that lack of funding for research is a “very serious“(46 percent) or “serious” (41 percent) impediment to scientific advances.
• Scientists are still generally upbeat about their profession; 76 percent indicate that this is a good time for science in general, and 73 percent say now is a good time for their particular scientific specialty.

Americans and Scientific Knowledge

• Younger people (under age 30) did better than older people (over age 65) on a test of basic scientific knowledge, which included both current issues in science and “textbook” science questions. But Americans in the 30-49 age range had the highest scores on the science knowledge test.
• Only 52 percent of respondents could correctly indicate that stem cells are special because they can develop into other types of cells; 60 percent knew that Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
• While more than 75 percent of respondents knew that continents are/have been shifting, less than half (46 percent) knew that electrons are smaller than atoms.

The entire report is available online. To take the twelve-item scientific knowledge quiz used in the study, visit pewresearch.org/sciencequiz/. Also see AAC&U’s announcement about its partnership with PKAL and the online resources available at PKAL’s Web site.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Scientists and citizens tend to agree that government investment in scientific research is important; 60 percent of the citizens surveyed agree that government investment is “essential,” and 84 percent of scientists say the government is the most important funding source for scientific research.
• Eighty-seven percent of scientists surveyed think that humans and other living things have evolved due to natural processes, while only 32 percent of the public agree.
• Scientists (55 percent) and members of the public (52 percent) agree that medical and health advances are among the most important scientific achievements of the past fifty years.